Sonate No.

4in C Major (BWV 1033) Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

arr. Marcel Mule
I. Andante
II. Allegro
III. Adagio
IV. Menuetto I
V. Menuetto II
Megan Dufrat, piano

Tango-tude No. 1 Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)

Sonata, Op. 29 Robert Muczynski (1929-2010)

I. Andante maestoso
II. Allegro energico
Megan Dufrat, piano

Romanzen, Op. 94 Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

arr. Frederick Hemke
III. Nicht schnell
Megan Dufrat, piano

Brillance Ida Gotkovsky (b.1933)

I. Dclam
II. Dsinvolte
III. Dolcissimo
IV. Final
Megan Dufrat, piano

INTERMISSION

Scaramouche Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)

I. Vif
II. Modr
III. Brazileira

Hard Christian Lauba (b.1952)

Revolution Marc Mellits (b. 1966)

arr. Jonathan Nichol
David Oschefski, soprano saxophone
Cole Knutson, alto saxophone
Jordan Grenier, tenor saxophone
Aidan Gilhuly, baritone saxophone
 Sonata No. 4 in C Major (BWV 1033) - Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Johann Sebastian Bach, a German Baroque-era composer, is one of the most well-known
and greatest composers in music history. He was a well-respected organist during his time,
though his compositions would not become popular until after his death. He wrote over 1000
works, from solo pieces for varying instruments to full orchestral works. Three of Bach's twenty
children, Johann Christian, Johann Christoph Friedrich and Carl Phillip Emanuel, became
noteworthy musicians and composers themselves.
Bach composed his Sonata in C Major (BWV 1033) for flute in 1731, although it is
argued that this piece was not completely written by Bach, if it all. It has been suggested that
Carl Phillip Emanuel either fully composed the piece, or that Bach had originally intended this
sonata to be unaccompanied and Carl Phillip Emanuel later composed the accompaniment. This
theory has been put forward due to the differences of the accompaniment lines between the
movements and the soloistic line of the flute in the first and second movements

Tango-tude No.1 - Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)

Argentinean composer Astor Piazzolla, or "The Great Astor" as he is known in Buenos

Aires, was an expert bandonen player and is famous for revolutionizing the tango style. He
studied composition under Nadia Boulanger who had deemed his serious compositions too
derivative of Bartk, but when she heard the music he had written for his cabaret band she urged
him to continue to concentrate and evolve that style.
Piazzolla composed six Tangos-tudes for solo flute or violin in 1987. Piazzolla
specifies in the score, "It is advisable that the performer should well exaggerate the accents and
respirations, therefore inspiring the way of which tangos are played on the bandoneon." After
gaining popularity in Europe and North America, saxophonist Claude Delangle commissioned
Piazzolla to write a piano accompaniment for the etudes. The accompanied version was
completed in 1989, and both versions remain popular amongst solo instrumentalists of today.

Sonata, Op. 29 - Robert Muczynski (1929-2010)

Robert Muczynski was born in Chicago, Illinois. He studied composition at DePaul

University, graduating with a Master's degree in piano performance. He would eventually
become the head of the composition department at The University of Arizona and continue to
compose over fifty pieces. Prominent saxophonist Jean-Marie Londeix describes Muczynski's
music as being "very melodic in an Aaron Copland fashion and very rhythmic and percussive
an American Bla Bartok if you will. The unique combination of these two disparate styles along
with the regular use of jazz harmonic structures combines to create Muczynskis style."
Originally entitled Desert Sketches or Desert Serenade, Robert Muczynski was
commissioned by Trent Kynaston in 1970 to write this piece for the Second World Saxophone
Congress, which was being held in Chicago. Kynaston also suggested Muczynski change the
name to Sonata, even though it only has two movements, as he felt many saxophonists would
dismiss it as not being a serious piece.
The first movement, Andante maestoso, portrays the quiet, mysterious desert night, with
expressiveness and lyricism. While the second movement, Allegro energico, depicts a more
energetic and quick desert chase with rhythmic syncopations and passages in the saxophone's
altissimo register.

Three Romances, Op. 94 - Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Robert Schumann composed his Three Romances, Op. 94 in 1849 for oboe and piano,
and it is the only solo piece he ever composed for that instrument. A year later it was transcribed
for violin and clarinet, against Schumann's wishes. He composed this piece and gave it to his
wife, Clara Schumann, as a Christmas gift, and declared them his "hundredth opusculum." It
would not be publicly premiered until after Schumann's death, in 1863 by oboist Emilius Lund.
Shortly after its composition Robert and Clara would move from Dresden to Dusseldorf where
Schumann would be admitted into an asylum for psychotic melancholia. Nicht schnell has many
instances of rubato and changes of character which creates many melancholic moments
throughout the movement.

Brillance - Ida Gotkovsky (b.1933)

From Calais, France, composer Ida Gotkovsky studied under Olivier Messiaen and Nadia
Boulanger. Gotkovsky won multiple awards including the Prix Lily Boulanger, Prix Blumenthal,
and the Premier Prix du Referendum Pasdeloup. She has written for nearly every instrument and
has expressed her idea of music as "to create a universal musical art and to realize the oneness of
musical expression through the ages by means of a contemporary musical language with
powerful structures."
Brillance is a four movement piece written in a slow-fast-slow-fast form with many
contrasts of expression between movements. Dclam, as the name suggests, is written as a
declamation with the saxophone playing in a "quasi rcitativo" style and ending with a short
cadenza. Dsinvolte, "jaunty", is a humourous movement in a quick tempo with contrasting
sections of whimsical staccato notes and short, playful phrases consisting of long legato notes.
In Dolcissimo, the saxophone plays a sweet lyrical melody over top a rhythmic ostinato piano
line. Final begins with a resounding opening in the saxophone that leads into a feeling of
constant rapid motion between the saxophone and piano. After the cadenza, it calls back to the
second movement with a short humourous section before closing with a virtuosic ending.

Scaramouche - Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974)

Darius Milhaud was a prominent French modernist composer and a member of Les Six.
His style features strong influences from jazz and Brazillian music, while integrating
polytonality.
Scaramouche is generally thought to have been written as a duo piano work originally,
but the saxophone and orchestra version was written at the same time if not before, in 1937. The
saxophone and orchestra version was written for saxophonist Sigurd Rascher, however, since
Rascher left Europe because of the war, Milhaud arranged it for two pianos to fulfill a
commission from a piano duo. Scaramouche's three movements were taken from Milhaud's
incidental music of Bolivar and Le Mdecin volant. The title Scaramouche is taken from the
children's theatre: Thtre Scaramouche.
 The first movement, Vif, is a quick bi-tonal movement that is light and playful and
includes the children's song "Ten Green Bottles," as the original music from Le Mdecin volant
was intended for a young audience. Modr, taken from the incidental music from Bolivar,
contrasts the outer two movements with a much more legato and melodic line in the saxophone
in a calm and graceful style. Brazileira, possibly the most popular of all three movements, is
inspired by the Brazilian instrumental Choro music. Choro music is characterized by virtuosity,
improvisation and fast, syncopated rhythms. A typical Choro ensemble includes flute, soprano
saxophone, a violo (six string guitar), and a cavaquinho (ukulele).

Hard - Christian Lauba (b.1952)

Tunisian composer Christian Lauba is well-known for his contemporary saxophone

works that incorporate many extended techniques in an idiomatic and musical way. Hard,
composed in 1988, for solo tenor saxophone is considered Lauba's anthem of his own style.
Drawing on inspiration from rock music and jazz, Hard uses techniques such as slap tongue and
key clicks to create a raucous, classical, and rhapsodic piece, that is intended to be heard as a
continuous improvisation. Lauba describes Hard as, "a synthesis between the present
contemporary music and the more popular music (Hard rock, Soul music) which is often
improvised." He goes on to explain that, "both performer and audience must go into a trance at
the end of the performance."

Revolution - Marc Mellits (b. 1966)

American composer Marc Mellits studied at the Eastman School of Music, Yale School
of Music, and Cornell University. His style combines driving rhythms, soaring lyricism and rock
influences into his minimalist compositions.
Revolution was originally titled String Quartet No.2: Revolution and later adapted for
saxophone quartet and renamed Revolution by arranger Johnathan Nichol. Revolution consists of
four movements, Groove Canon, Mara's Toys, December, 1989, and Groove Machine. Mellits
drew inspiration for Groove Canon and Groove Machine from old machinery (particularly
trains) he had seen in Romania, where he would spend a considerable amount of time each year.
December 1989 is a direct reference to the Romanian Revolution of Christmas in 1989, with the
melody being based on a patriotic communist song written for Nicolae Ceauescu, who was the
Romanian head of state in 1989.